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List of Monopoly Video Games
There have been more than a dozen video game adaptations of Parker Brothers' highly successful board game Monopoly. Early versions The first of the adaptations were released in 1985 with the release of Monopoly for the BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. Over the years, Monopoly has been released for different operating systems on the PC and Macintosh platforms. Also, versions have been licensed and produced for the NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Switch consoles, as well as mobile device (PDA/Smartphone) versions. There's even one for the Game.com system from Tiger Electronics. The game plays by the same rules as the standard board game, and allows for single or multi-player games. When a single player game is chosen, the game would generate computer-controlled opponents. One of the lesser-liked features of the game was that the players could play only in the exact style programmed into the game. This could be slightly different than the various "house rules" that many homes employ, and could cause problems. An especially problematic feature was the mandatory auctioning of unpurchased properties, that led to rich players having a better run of the board. Some versions however, like the Nintendo 64, PC, Macintosh, and PlayStation versions, do allow the most common "house rules" to be turned on, such as Free Parking jackpot, no collecting rent in jail, unlimited houses/hotels, collecting double salary for landing on GO (i.e. $400 instead of $200). PlayStation and PC/Mac versions PS version was developed by Gremlin Interactive, whilst PC/Mac version was by Westwood Studios. The PC/Mac version played top down, while the PlayStation version was 3D. They both had movies in common, played when showing the game pieces moving on their own. The PlayStation version was poorly received by Josh Smith of GameSpot, who called it "a novelty item with little replay value" and assigned the game a score of 4.2 out of 10. General MIlls released a CD ROM version for PCs of Monopoly Junior as a promotion in 2000. Current generation version A new version developed by Electronic Arts was released in 2008 for the Wii, PlayStation 3, iPhone and Xbox 360, with a slightly stripped-down version for the PlayStation 2. It includes a transatlantic selection of boards, including the new Here & Now edition boards and new game mode, Richest. There are no online features, however. Reception of current EA version EA's Monopoly game scored fairly poorly, with a 54% average on the PS3 on Metacritic, and 56% on the Xbox 360. The Wii version fared better with 70%. The Official Nintendo Magazine in the UK were most positive in their evaluation of the Wii version, which they called "great fun" in the Christmas 2008 issue. EuroGamer was less enthusiastic, saying: "For the price of Monopoly for Wii, you could buy real Monopoly. Twice. Or you could just buy no Monopoly at all and spend the money on something more likely to inspire amity and harmony, like a book by Hitler." Electronic handheld version An electronic handheld version of the game was marketed from 1997-2001. The player can play one of 4 tokens: Hat, Dog, Shoe, or Car; and can also pick from 5 available AI opponents (but must have 3 to play against): Connie Cashola, Diamond Jim, Greedy Granny, Hot Shot, and Penny Wise. In this adaptation of the game, Rich Uncle Pennybags is both banker/auctioneer, and the human player always goes first. If the human player goes bankrupt at any time, the game ends right then and there, regardless of how many and which AI players remain in the game. See also: Monopoly Jackpot Category:Lists Category:Video Games Category:Monopoly Category:Derivative Games Category:Electronic Versions